Is spontaneity dead?

It is over 15 years since I left university. Like most Rhodes graduates I have many memories of the impulsive things I did in my youth. Many were fun but some were really stupid. Like when we decided to park next to a dam on some farm, crack open the drinks and throw an impromptu party. Only to find ourselves locked in by the farmer with the police on their way ready to arrest us for trespassing. Note to everyone. Don’t do it, not worth the drama.

I’ve noticed that as I grow older more and more social engagements involve formal meeting invites. It’s bizarre. I have after hours events like “Bottomless Bubbly” and “1 on 1 over coffee” popping up as reminders on my phone all the time. Social engagements planned far in advance with acceptance of a meeting request viewed as commitment to attend.

What the heck happened to the days of the casual text after work to find out where we were going to meet up later? Or the impromptu let’s all get out the office early today because we can kind of event? Even in the office we are plagued by unwanted interruptions in those terrible open plan offices. There is some comfort in hiding behind the fact that the calendar doesn’t leave much room to be spontaneous. And honestly the regimented lack of spontaneity is getting worse and worse.

I once worked for a legendary boss and my favourite times with him were when we would drive out to go and visit customers in outlying areas. I remember once leaving Johannesburg headed for Mpumalanga. We didn’t know where we would actually sleep that night as we didn’t know how long we would need in each town along the way.

We ended up buying food in Witbank and spending the night in one of the government “chalets” in the beautiful Kruger National Park a few hours later. Dinner was delicious braai meat, Spar rolls and salad. Breakfast the next day was a coffee sachet and 2 slices of bread with leftovers in between. To make our 1st appointment we also had the wonderful experience of taking an early morning game drive through one of Africa’s most famous safari destinations. None of this was planned. The work got done. We learned about the market. And it was a lot of fun.

Compare this to the typical corporate where travel has to booked a minimum of 2 weeks in advance, approved by the boss on a paper form and accommodation has to be provided in an establishment approved by procurement with all expenses claimed on an official tax invoice. I’ got bored just typing that. You get the point 🙂

Lets bring back a little spontaneity into the work environment. But please don’t send me a meeting invite so we can plan how we are going to do it.